The Carrs Wetland Project

The Carrs Wetland blog started life as a website for a wetland restoration project near Scarborough, in North Yorkshire. The Cayton and Flixton Carrs Wetland Project, as it was originally named, was an advocacy project working with farmers – It sought to establish farm stewardship schemes on lowland, floodplain peat soils in the Vale of Pickering. A wetland landscape would be restored, farmed less intensively to enhance habitats bring back breeding waders and protect the archaeological heritage associated with Star Carr (arguably the most important Stone Age site you may never have heard of). The project employed a full-time Project Officer at Scarborough Borough Council between 2006 and 2011 but the blog continues to spread the message of wetland restoration.

Deep, lowland peat soils, if drained, can prove fertile for arable cropping but as doing so releases many tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere as the peat gradually wastes away, should we be growing food on these soils at all?

It is actually very easy to read and avoids technical jargon, explaining in clear reasoned terms what the government intends to do and why. Whatever the colour of your politics it is hard not to like what you read. It is particularly heartening to see lowland peatland restoration promoted and validated in spite of the agricultural importance of fenland and lowland vales in England. I will come back to this in a moment.

It mentions marine plastics for example, farming and land management policies, green spaces for communities, helping primary schools to improve school grounds and get children out in contact with nature more. If your passion like mine is for soil health and protecting peatlands then the intention to phase out horticultural use of peat can’t come soon enough. There is stuff on waste reduction and Natural Capital (hurrah for that); policies on fisheries and habitat creation are described; a proposition to increase woodland cover to 12% and lots of talk about climate change mitigation, natural flood management, resilience, Clean Growth, whatever that is and lots more. Healthy cynicism aside there is much to applaud.

Anyway, back to peatlands, here is what is says on ‘Improving soil health and restoring and protecting our peatlands’:

“While peatlands are our largest terrestrial carbon store, drained peatlands release their carbon, adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Organic or peat soils make up 11% of England’s total land area, over 70% of which are drained or in poor condition. Although our drained lowland peatland makes up only a small proportion of the agricultural land in England, these are among our most fertile soils and play an important part in the nation’s food supply. Conventional agricultural production using current techniques on drained peatland is, however, inherently unsustainable.”

While one could argue that the hot topic of upland moorland management (including the much debated impacts of driven grouse shooting on upland catchments and ecosystems) has been conveniently left out of the plan, I have to welcome the way that the essential conflict of cultivating lowland peat soils for food production (or indeed fibre or biomass) has been laid open for debate head on.

Seriously, do delve in and have a look for yourself. This plan is not just for civil servants to put on their shelf but has some real relevance in the way that ordinary people might participate in making things happen. Whether it be pledging not to use single use plastics (drinking straws, carrier bags, drinking cups), getting involved in rejuvenating a local greenspace, petitioning your garden centre to ditch peat-based composts or supporting the campaigns to reduce pesticides like neonicotinoids – there is sure to be something you can get personally involved in with.

A cultivated field at Staxton, just inland of Scarborough on the Yorkshire Coast illustrates how dark the peat soil is here in the Vale of Pickering. These fields are a store of soil-based organic carbon, locked away in wetland biomass over the last 11,000 years. But we really should not be ploughing such soils for arable crops.

A freshly-cultivated field by the A64 at Staxton with a green sliver of a remnant drainage ditch, illustrates nicely how dark the peat soil is here in the eastern Vale of Pickering. Generally speaking the darker the soil the higher the organic matter and hence carbon content. These fields are a store of soil-based organic matter locked away in wetland biomass over the last 11,000 years, since Mesolithic humans knapped flint and hunted deer on the shores of Lake Flixton. In places the several-metre-deep peats around Star Carr and Flixton Carr have been found to be up to 95% carbon by mass. In the UK, soil carbon stores exceed that locked up in our forests by approximately four times. So we really should be looking after these Natural Capital assets. World leaders and policy-makers will be meeting in Edinburgh later this month for the World Forum on Natural Capital.

In climate change mitigation terms, (As I vividly remember reading in the exec. summary headline of the IUCN Commission of Enquiry on Peatlands) the ‘low hanging fruit of climate change mitigation’ in other words the very first priority we should be spending our carbon offset cash on, is to restore and re-wet our degraded peatlands. Cultivated (and hence degraded and oxidizing) peat farmland soils figure prominently in this catergory. Spending our Corporate and Social Responsibility pounds on woodland creation may be more ‘sexy’ for big businesses and we’ve all bought the loo rolls that promise to plant two trees or whatever for every one they chop up for cellulose…or the tea bags that fund tree planting projects…but perhaps we really should be investing more in restoring and re-wetting peat bogs? (Maybe there is a good case for bog rolls that donate to Bog Restoration – just a thought.)

What I am about to say next may sound counter-intuitive…Sadly, Stewardship schemes for these type of famland areas ( ie lowland cultivated peats) over past decades have prioritised high quality habitat creation and biodiversity targets. These are fantastic of course where they can be achieved – restoring wet grassland for breeding waders like curlew and lapwing, but they are difficult and bold undertakings, needing expert advice, on the ground supervision, and a zeal for conservation rare outside of nature reserve management.

I have found this out through personal experience as Project Officer on the Carrs Wetland Project, a role I enjoyed full time from 2007 until 2011 then part time with other duties for a few more years. Only on a few of the farms on the ‘black land’ was re-wetting even acheiveable, especially when neighbours continue cropping and therefore maintaining active land drainage. Even then it was not an undertaking agreed to lightly. Prioritising wet grassland for breeding waders does nothing to offer incentives to the average farmer for managing their land to best retain soil carbon for its own value.

So, while on The Carrs we still thankfully have a few farm schemes in HLS doing what they can to re-wet the fields: bund the ditches, excavate wader scrapes, carefully manipulate sward structure with cattle grazing and raise water tables with sluices….the great expanses of ‘Black Land’ in between, comprising millions of tonnes of locked away carbon, but steadily oxidizing to CO2 with each pass of the plough….remain in cultivation. This may in fact be very productive, for potatoes for instance, or it may be sub-optimal – where adequate drainage is a barrier to good arable cropping. I really feel though that in the new era of post-CAP agri-policy we do need to be looking at payment for public benefits – including the sequestration of soil carbon itself – as well as the laudable efforts to restore species, preserve heritage features and regulate flooding wherever possible.

I hope the policy makers in DEFRA are paying attention, for meanwhile as Brexit negotiations rumble on, the farms are cultivating their fields, laying fresh underdrains, and planting crops on the very land that could help us stave off a runaway spiral of CO2 emissions and the uncharted climatic consequences that come with it. Our soils are just one element of Natural Capital – the assets in our landscape that underpin our economies, health and prosperity – but looking after our soils better (as part of a Natural Capital Policy that makes it pay for land managers to do so) is a very good starting point. I sincerely hope that national and global decision-makers wake up to this jolly soon, because I might just be still around to see the consequences.

Flixton Carr, viewed from the bridge over the ‘Hertford Cut’, a farmland drainage ditch.

For a landscape-based project finding a name can be a challenge. Names are important; they convey meaning, geographical scope and can carry some socio-political connotations. An ill-advised name may exclude people or communities which one wishes to embrace. ‘The Cayton and Flixton Carrs Wetland Project’, which operated between 2005 and 2013 was a case in point.

The original project logo, featuring a Lapwing, a key target species when restoring ‘wet grassland for breeding waders’

This name was coined in the early days when a Project Officer was first employed to work with landowners in theVale of Pickering, just inland from the Yorkshire Coast between Scarborough and Filey. The aim was to encourage uptake of Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) wetland schemes on the peat floodplain of the Hertford River, (a canalized tributary of the Yorkshire Derwent, also known as the New Cut or Hertford Cut or simply The Hertford). The name reflected the original project area of some ten square kilometres, bounded roughly by the villages of Staxton, Seamer, Cayton and Folkton, more or less due south of Scarborough.

Initially, the Cayton and Flixton Carrs Wetland Project targeted just ten square km of the flat peatland three miles south of Scarborough, in North Yorkshire’s Vale of Pickering.

The Cayton and Flixton Carrs moniker was conceived to embrace both north and south sides of the River Hertford floodplain (Cayton being one of the villages to the north and Flixton to the south). It focused attention on the core area of deep fen peat soils to target farm schemes but steered away from names that might cause confusion with the landfill site named Seamer Carr and with the archaeological research project at Star Carr. The former is now capped off but forms a substantial artificial hill (see also The Higher Carr ). The latter, the Mesolithic settlement of Star Carr has been known since early work in the 1940’s but has risen to prominence through the latest discoveries including a rare engraved shale pendant, oldest known Mesolithic art in Britain. [Sadly there is nothing to see there on the ground today but check out some amazing images of the discoveries and excavations by the University of York on their dedicated website www.starcarr.com.]

The extent of low grounds highlighted by the Muston and Yedingham IDB (Internal Drainage Board) District. Cayton and Flixton Carrs lie to the eastern portion.

After a few years of agri-environment advocacy in The Carrs area it soon became clear that a broader swathe of floodplain land needed to be included in the wetland project’s remit. This need was reinforced by applications for HLS schemes from Flotmanby and Muston to the east and from Potter Brompton further west. Thus the partnership came to represent the low ground of the River Hertford Carrs from Muston Bottoms in the east to Haybridge (near Ganton Golf course) in the west. For simplicity and consistency the Cayton and Flixton name remained for a further period to retain the identity and local recognition that the project had acquired.

The Carrs Wetland Project logo, in its revised form.

Followers who came upon the project via social media will be much more familiar with the shorthand name ‘The Carrs Wetland Project’. This change kept the generic look of the project’s original logo, but reflected the broader geographic focus: that seam of low peatland and former marsh, drained by great communal efforts over decades. It was always my hope whatever the fate of the partnership project (or specifically the funding streams which had enabled it to come about) that the name would be something which could have greater longevity and encapsulate the opportunities to protect and restore this peatland which is so easily overlooked – driven past without a second glance in our hurry to the better known landscapes of the Yorkshire Coast, the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds.

Although The Carrs Wetland Project no longer enjoys a Project Officer or any partnership funding from outside agencies, I sincerely hope that it has remained in people’s hearts as a cause – a project with a small ‘p’ if you will. For the Vale of Pickering needs friends and advocates. It truly is ‘An Extraordinary Place’; one which no doubt will continue to ascend in the public consciousness as the wonders of Mesolithic Star Carr continue to be expounded by the team of archaeologists at York University.

Keeping this blog live, albeit with rather longer spells between posts than I’d wish, is one way that I have attempted to keep the interest in and awareness of The Carrs in the minds of local people and interested parties. I would be very interested in reader’s thoughts.

Does ‘The Carrs Wetland’ still mean anything to you? Does it have any currency among landscape-scale conservation professionals? What about ordinary people and visitors to the region?If I’ve played a small part in forming a concept of The Carrs Wetland as a place rather than a project, as Scarborough’s lowland peat then I am a happy man. If people who drive past or across The Carrs now glance sideways expectantly, proudly, even fondly, as I do each time I travel the A64 between Staxton and Seamer or pass along the A170 or descend Staxton Bank into the Vale, then so much the better.

Prompted by an email from the Wildlife Trusts I filled in a quick survey following up on my experiences of the 30 Days Wild challenge this June, the now annual gauntlet thrown down to ordinary people to undertake random acts of wildness every day for a month. Now, we all get requests for feedback surveys on this, that and the other; mostly they are a bit of an un-solicited chore. However, I feel that this initiative is a very worthwhile one for spreading the message of letting nature and wildness into our daily lives so I took a few minutes to respond. (If you took part in #30DaysWild yourself and want to shape the campaign next year you can do likewise using this link https://wildlifetrusts.typeform.com/to/aEvj9h )

Instagram Post for Day 17 of #30DaysWild, 17/06/16 inspired by a surprise beetle encounter.

As when I took part in #30DaysWild previously, I found that by committing to a pattern of posting on social media (I tried to send a daily Instagram post, which was also shared to my Facebook timeline) this ‘public’ sharing element gave me a greater impetus to try to do something each day – I felt that I was under some scrutiny…

…Whether or not my followers and friends would have noticed, let alone challenge me on it, were I to miss the odd day is a moot point. Even when sometimes I nearly missed (quick, dusk is falling!), or on a few occasions I posted something retrospectively the next day, the 30 days wild habit makes you more aware of nature moments in your daily life. During the month of June, and this was not the first year I’ve taken part, it meant I was always looking out for wild experiences that I could share. In this way, though it’s a challenge to sustain for a month, I find it trains one to think about ways to share and be evangelical about one’s relationship with nature. Which is no bad thing, is it?

Day 18 saw me getting up close with nature in York and one of my favourite shots on the phone was this whorl of Woundwort flowers.

Post Script.

Last time around as this year, I chose to use Instagram as my modus operani, using the #30DaysWild hashtag and simultaneously selecting ‘share to Facebook’ and to my Twitter feed. However this means it goes on my personal FB timeline and not to FB groups that I am a member of such as 30DaysWild (or more specifically ConnectingforNature and Stamford BridgeinBloom, my go-to places for daily posting activity these days). If I’m brave and willing to commit the time perhaps one year I’ll do it as a daily blog… but that’s still a bit daunting and I’m not sure I have the discipline to set to it of an evening after the day job. Posting on the 30 Days Wild Facebook gp seems a good option as it now has several thousand people and so a much bigger reach than my other social accounts but are we ‘preaching to the converted’?

I wonder what others feel and how it works for other full-time employed people? If I am brutally honest I sometimes imagine that the stay-at-home mums with preschool kids are best represented (and envied) on the 30days FB gp for their inventive #30DaysWild activities. I’m very lucky to have a day job and commute that can take me to beautiful wild places, a back garden and village which places nature on the doorstep and a strong affinity already to zero in on natures details. How is it for the busy professional or indoor worker to undertake the challenge? How daunted might they be by the scope and inventiveness of others posting their exploits. The wild experience is just as important, arguably moreso for them, as its more out of their way to make a daily wildness habit.

Did you do 30DaysWild? What are your thoughts about it? Did you share any random acts of wildness on social media? Above all do tell the Wildlife Trusts about it, (Here is that link again https://wildlifetrusts.typeform.com/to/aEvj9h ) as it really will help them to finesse and grow the campaign next time around.

I am not sure where to begin with this post, but it feels right to have a stab at it. There is little doubt that EU Directives have been some of the strongest protection for species and habitats over the past few decades, and it’s also no secret that the Conservative government has been keen to minimise ‘red tape’ for economic development, by putting in place a presumption in favour of development in the local planning system. We now have the NPPF the National Planning Policy Framework, which swept away reams of details planning guidance, policy statements and advice, in favour of more general broad brush ‘biodiversity duty’ which, to put it crudely, leaves it to the discretion of local authority planning departments. So this is my first worry for Nature…protected areas and species.

First, what happens to Natura 2000? – that Europe-wide network of designated areas given statutory conservation protection for their valuable wildlife habitats? Without EU legislation to require it, will the UK government uphold the conservation designations which are enshrined in European law? Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs) are European designations, for instance the North York Moors is designated an SPA for the populations of Merlin and Golden Plover it supports. Fortunately the North York Mors is also a National Park, which gives another strong UK based level of environmental protection. Special Areas of Conservation (SAC’s) are another EU designation, for instance the River Derwent is an SAC for its riparian habitats with key aquatic mammals and fish. Will this stand once we have parted company with Europe?

A second issue of EU legislation: Will the Water Framework Directive be abandoned – that challenging goal for raising the ecological status of all our rivers, streams and water bodies – including reduction of aquatic pollution, sediment inputs from land, removing barriers to fish migration on rivers etc. It has steered and dominated major aspects of the Environment Agency and DEFRA’s work relating to rivers and their catchments. Indeed the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) which has been embedded in aspects of DEFRA work on land management was a logical extension of the need to improve water quality and water level management of our river systems.

Thirdly and this is a big one, there is the matter of European subsidies for rural development, agriculture, forestry etc, including the Natural England flagship agri-environment scheme, Countryside Stewardship, on which the ink is barely dry from a major shake-up and re-organisation of farming subsidies for environmental benefits, including provision for pollinators, climate change mitigation, ecosystem services, carbon management, catchment sensitive farming methods, farmland biodiversity under Pillar II of the Common Agricultral Policy – the so called Greening of the CAP. It is up to the individual EU nation states to design their own schemes for prioritising and disseminating the subsidies for Agri-Environment work, and Countryside Stewardship – and its forbears including ELS/HLS -is our nations version. But the money ultimately comes from central European funds, and surely this is going to be a major headache for Natural England who are just bedding in the new CS scheme and working on only their second round of annual applications this summer.

Whati is without doubt is that there a major work to do both by government departments and by conservation organisations large and small to make sure that Nature does not get a raw deal out of Brexit. In one sense you could say that interest rates and currency flops can recover, but if natural habitats get ‘done over’ once in many cases it will be for good.

Paid a quick visit this week to one of the two constructed balancing ponds on the Scarborough Business Park, Taylor Way, just off the road down to the Waste Recovery Centre at Seamer Carr. Its not open to the public (although the larger pond to the east has a right of way down one side and is certainly visited by some people who know it’s there.) I was keen to see how the meadow planting mix has established and see if anything interesting was about on a sunny morning. Now I’m not much of an entomology specialist and my botany is fair to middling but I snapped a few nice things with my phone for the record.

Red=Tailed Bumble bee on Common Hogweed

I enjoyed seeing lots of bumblebees out, mostly red-tailed. Among the other innumerable insects buzzing about the meadow margins of the pond were moths, craneflies and froghoppers (‘spittlebugs’) galore. Some Common Blue and Blue-Tailed Damselflies were active around the perimeter path (though my attempts to photograph them were all but thwarted as they are so flighty).

Yellow Rattle, a native meadow flower, often included in seed mixes for restoring wildflower-rich meadows due to its hemiparasitic habits.

Yellow Rattle was in the seed mix used by the developer and is good for reducing the vigour of the grasses in meadow sites due to its hemiparasitic nature, attaching to the roots below ground and tapping into the spoils of the grasses’ photosynthesis. A good mix of other flower species were present including Birdsfoot Trefoil, Black Medick, Knapweeds, Buttercups, Ribwort Plantain and Red Clover.

Ragged Robin, a native wildflower of marsh ground, here included in a seed mix for the margins of the pond

It is pleasing to see lots of Ragged Robin among the meadow flowers. This wildflower likes marshy ground and in the low spots which fill up in the wetter months there was quite a show. The name comes from the dissected petals giving a raggedy appearance. It is actually related to the Campion and ‘catch-fly’ family.

The call of a Curlew nearby piqued my interest and disturbed me from my Ragged Robin reverie, then looking up and listening a little more attentively I heard a pair of Oystercatchers which appeared to be hanging around on one of the undeveloped vacant plots to the north of Taylor Way. They were actually on the roof of a shipping container and at first I even wondered if they could choose to nest on there, safe from the depredations of foxes. These sparsely vegetated plots have been quite attractive to other waders including Lapwing in the few years since they were cleared for future development and left largely undisturbed since then, save for the occasional dog walker and some unsightly fly-tipping around the periphery. How ironic that sites cleared of topsoil and vegetation in anticipation of development can end up attracting a good range of biodiversity in their denuded state.

The site is not a public space, rather a water body to balance out run-off from the business park, with some designed-in ecological enhancements. However I’m sure the developers Caddick’s would be open to permitting visits by local naturalists to this and the larger pond to the east for ecological recording.